Rome to launch brand new film festival

Rome -- From 1953's "Roman Holiday", starring Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn, to Tom Cruise's latest blockbuster "Mission Impossible 3", Rome has always enjoyed a special relationship with the world of cinema.

To nurture the love affair and renew the city's profile as a prime location for tomorrow's hits, city Mayor Walter Veltroni has launched a brand new film festival, which opens in the Italian capital Friday and will run until Oct 21.

Veltroni, a well-known cinema buff, has had to endure plenty of criticism for daring to challenge the Venice Film Festival, which is considered the world's oldest.

He insists his is "a different creature" that will target ordinary moviegoers rather than highbrow critics.

"Above all, it will be a great big party for Rome," Veltroni said.

The mayor has used all his clout and powers of persuasion to make the Rome Film Festival a success story.

So far, his efforts appear to have paid off.

Nearly 40,000 tickets have already been sold and a star-studded line-up is expected in the Italian capital over the coming week, with Robert De Niro, Harrison Ford and perhaps George Clooney all wanting to grab some of the limelight in the Eternal City.

Nicole Kidman will attend Friday's premiere of Steven Shainberg's "Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus", in which the Australian actress plays the late controversial photographer, while Sean Connery will receive a lifetime acting award.

Tuesday has been dubbed "Martin Scorsese Day", with the American director presenting his latest movie "Departed".

The nostalgia element will be provided by an exhibition by Isabella Rossellini on her father Roberto and tributes to Marcello Mastroianni, the unforgettable star of Federico Fellini's "La Dolce Vita".

Buyers and sellers, meanwhile, will be invited to conduct their business in a revamped Via Veneto, the posh street in central Rome made famous worldwide by Fellini's masterpiece and which has been renamed "Business Street" for the occasion.

The festival boasts a total of 95 films, documentaries and short films and 29 retrospectives.

Much of the action will take place in the city's Auditorium, an exhibition and concert centre designed by the Italian architect Renzo Piano and its celebrated Cinecitta Studios, which saw their heyday during the 1950s and 1960s.

Unlike in Venice, a popular jury of 50 ordinary moviegoers led by Italian director Ettore Scola will judge the 16 films in competition.

Rome organisers have forged a partnership with De Niro's Tribeca Film Festival, which was founded in the wake of the Sep 11 terrorist attacks in New York.

The Rome festival will screen 10 films shown earlier this year at Tribeca while Tribeca will next year show a selection of films from Rome.

"Both festivals love quality, but they also love the audience. Both do not believe that quality and the audience are opposites," Veltroni said during a recent trip to New York.